The European Commission has organised a party in the metaverse that was attended by almost no one, just 6 avatars. This party, which cost around 387 thousand euros , was part of the Global Gateway initiative to draw the attention of the new generations of TikTok and Instagram to European Union projects.
Only six people showed up to the event , including the Gizmodo team , which made the party a failure. One of the attendees was journalist Vince Chadwick , who wrote on Twitter: “After initial chats with the 5 or so other humans who showed up, I’m on my own.”
In the video, you can see his avatar standing in front of a stage where a DJ is playing music. In the chat, we can read that only Nick and the journalist are talking, commenting that the DJ plays the same music over and over again and “ is there anyone else ?” Finally, he asks if he got the wrong date for the party in the metaverse. The Devex journalist wrote that one person described this metaverse event as “ digital garbage .”
“Really? There is a massive drought in East Africa, UNHCR doesn’t have slovenia number data v enough funding for food for refugees in camps etc, and THIS is what you choose to spend money on ,” wrote one sustainable agriculture researcher in response to the official EU tweet.
As reported by Devex , you could log in to this party for free and try out the different activities that this space had. Once you logged in, you could choose your avatar. After choosing the settings, you enter a tropical island where stories about EU development cooperation are played on video screens .
The European Commission's goal with this campaign is to mobilize €300 billion of investments by 2027 and includes the hashtag #WhoWeAre . European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the Global Gateway is first and foremost a geopolitical project, which seeks to position Europe in a competitive international market . It is a critical tool because infrastructure investments are at the heart of today's geopolitics.
“Partners from all over the world want to work with Europe. The first year of implementation shows the demand for sustainable investments that place the strategic autonomy of our